Conveyor belt cleaner

Abstract

An assembly of cleaners for a conveyor belt comprising a tubular support having first and second series of mounting openings which are arranged in a staggered or offset relationship to permit cleaners having spring arms of equal length to be mounted or positioned on the support without any interference between adjacent cleaners. With such a construction, the scraper blades provided at the ends of the scraper arms overlap but do not hit each other as normally occurs when the mounting openings in the support are longitudinally aligned rather than staggered.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An assembly of cleaners for a conveyor belt comprising a tubular support provided with a longitudinally extending axis, a first series of openings in said support, the openings in said first series being arranged in pairs of openings in the support, each pair of openings having an axis intersecting the longitudinally extending axis of the support, the axis of the openings in said first series of openings being located in a first plane, a second series of openings in said support, the openings in said second series being arranged in pairs of openings in the support, each pair of openings of the second series being located adjacent a pair of aligned openings in said first series of openings but offset therefrom, each pair of openings in said second series of openings having an axis intersecting the longitudinally extending axis of the support, the axis of said pairs of openings in said second series of openings being located in a second plane located at an acute angle to said first plane, the pairs of openings in said first and second series of openings in the support providing means for mounting cleaners on the support, each cleaner of the assembly comprising a clamp carrying a rod-like member thereon having a longitudinally extending axis, an elastomer element in the form of a torus having an opening through which the rod-like member is secured, and a scraper arm secured to the elastomer element and disposed generally as a radius from the member axis, each scraper arm positioning a scraper blade adjacent the end thereof, the torus being torsionally elastic about the member axis to resist angular movement of the scraper arm about the member axis, and fastening means extending through the clamp of each cleaner into a pair of openings in the support, each of said scraper arms of the assembly having a single fixed longitudinal length and wherein every other one of said cleaners is adapted to be mounted to said support by fastening means extending through the clamp of each of said every other one of said cleaners and into said first series of pairs of openings in said support while the remaining alternate ones of said cleaners are adapted to be mounted to said support by fastening means extending through the clamp of each of said remaining alternate ones of said cleaners and into said second series of pairs of openings in said support so as to mount said cleaners horizontally on the support at the proper spacing to achieve a staggered overlapping arrangement of said scraper blades while using only said equal length scraper arms. 
     
     
       2. The assembly of cleaners defined in claim 1 wherein the clamp of each cleaner comprises a one piece clamp having upper and lower portions, said lower portion having a base shaped to fit the contour of the support, said upper portion having a pair of spaced apart brackets which receives said elastomer element therebetween, openings in said brackets aligned with the torus opening in said elastomer element, one of said bracket openings being round and the other of said bracket openings being rectangular, said rod-like member extending through the aligned openings in said brackets and in the torus of said elastomer element, said rod-like member extending through the aligned openings in said brackets and in the torus of said elastomer element, said rod-like member having a rectangular shaped shoulder on one end thereof which fits into the rectangular opening in said other bracket to prevent rotation of said rod-like member relative to said clamp about the longitudinally extending axis of the rod-like member. 
     
     
       3. The assembly of cleaners defined in claim 2 wherein said rectangular opening and said rectangular shaped shoulder of each cleaner are each in the form of a square. 
     
     
       4. The assembly of cleaners defined in claim 2 wherein said base of the clamp of each cleaner is provided with an inner surface of part cylindrical configuration which is adapted to seat against the support. 
     
     
       5. The assembly of cleaners defined in claim 4 wherein said base of the clamp of each cleaner is provided with a pair of openings located on an axis spaced from and arranged perpendicular to the axis of the rod-like member, said last mentioned openings being adapted to be aligned with a pair of openings in said first or second series of openings provided in the support for receiving said fastening means. 
     
     
       6. The assembly of cleaners defined in claim 4 wherein said base of the clamp of each cleaner is provided with a single opening having an axis which intersects and is perpendicular to the axis of the rod-like member, said last mentioned opening being adapted to be aligned with a pair of openings in said first or second series of openings provided in the support for receiving said fastening means. 
     
     
       7. The assembly of cleaners defined in claim 4 wherein said base of the clamp of each cleaner is of C-shaped configuration, with said brackets being located at the sides of said base and midway between the end portions thereof and extending upwardly from said base. 
     
     
       8. The assembly of cleaners defined in claim 7 wherein said base of the clamp of each cleaner is provided with a pair of openings in the end portions thereof which are located on an axis spaced from and arranged perpendicular to the axis of the rod-like member, said last mentioned openings being adapted to be aligned with a pair of openings in said first or second series of openings provided in the support for receiving said fastening means. 
     
     
       9. The assembly of cleaners defined in claim 7 wherein said base of the clamp of each cleaner is provided with a single centrally located opening midway between the end portions thereof which has an axis which intersects and is perpendicular to the axis of the rod-like member, said last mentioned opening being adapted to be aligned with a pair of openings in said first or second series of openings provided in the support for receiving said fastening means.